Manchester City footballer, Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

He was cleared of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault after a trial that began in August 2022.

Following 14 days of deliberation at Chester Crown Court, the jury was unable to reach verdicts on two other charges against Mendy – one count of rape, involving a woman aged 24 in October 2020, and one count of attempted rape, involving a woman aged 29 in October 2018.

The Crown Prosecution Service said it will pursue a retrial against Mendy over the two charges – rape and attempted rape – that the jury could not decide on.

Mendy’s co-accused, Louis Saha Matturie, has been found not guilty of three charges. He faces a possible retrial on six charges.

Judge Everett discharged the jury on Friday January 13, ending the trial. Both men had been on trial since 10 August, accused of multiple sexual offences by 13 women. Matthew Conway, prosecuting, said the prosecution would seek a retrial on the counts the jury could not reach verdicts on.

He said:

“The prosecution has made a decision. We have made a decision today, which is to proceed on these counts in two separate trials and we seek today a provisional case management.”

A statement from Manchester City said: “Given there are open matters related to this case, the club is not in a position to comment further at this time.”

The allegations and trial had been “absolute hell” for Mr Mendy, the court heard, with his life in football “over” as he would “never escape” the accusations.

Liverpool have reached an agreement to sign forward Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven.

The 23-year-old Netherlands international will move to Liverpool when the transfer window opens on 1 January subject to the granting of a work permit and international clearance.

The Reds will pay between £35m and £45m for the 23-year-old, who scored three goals in five appearances at the World Cup in Qatar. Gakpo, who underwent his medical on Merseyside on Wednesday afternoon, is understood to have agreed a deal until 2028, with his transfer subject to a work a permit.

“I feel really good, I’m really excited to be here. I’m looking forward to start training and start playing for this amazing club,” Gakpo told the official club website.

“I think this is a great club for me to come in and try to show what I can [do] and try to help the team to achieve more beautiful moments that they already did in the past years.”

Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com:

“There is a lot to like about Cody. He is still only 23 years old but he already has a lot of experience.

“He was the captain of PSV, he was the Player of the Year in Holland last season and, as a lot of people have just seen, he also had a great World Cup with his national team.

“So, it is clear that he is already a really, really good player but his age also means he also has the potential to become even better.

“Offensively, he is very versatile and on top of this we know he is a smart footballer and also a smart person, so we are really excited to be able to work with him.”

Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen has assured Napoli that he has no plans to leave the club next summer.

Osimhen has been linked with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Real Madrid.

This season alone, the Nigeria international has scored 10 goals and registered three assists in 14 appearances across all competitions for Napoli.

“I’ve no plans to leave . I set the standard for myself. This is the life I want to live. When things were not going so well for me, I kept on believing, kept on praying, kept on working hard, I did other jobs before coming back to my love, football,” Osimhen told Omasports.

“To get to where I am today, there were a lot of obstacles, a lot of hate, and backstabbing, my success came with love, pain, tears, failures, and things like that.”